This invention relates to a method for selectively binding pre-personalized inserts and, more particularly, to such inserts as signatures, mailers, cards and the like.
It has become very popular to be able to create several different versions of a book (i.e., magazine, newspaper, catalog, book itself, etc.) at the same time, to save on postal charges and to direct advertising at specific individuals. For instance, a clothing store may want to provide different catalogs based on the customer's gender. In conventional binding, each type of catalog would have to be bound on separate bindery lines, thus creating two mailings. In the inventive selective binding, both catalogs are created at the same time on the same bindery line. The men's clothing and women's clothing pages are loaded into separate feeders on the bindery line. A control computer examines each recipient for gender and directs the bindery line to actuate the proper feeders to create the desired catalog. This is known as selective binding.
To date, the only type of personalization of selectively bound books has been ink jet printing at the time the book is bound. Ink jet printing is limited in print quality, number of lines of variable data that can be printed on a page, lack of ability to print graphics, and the ability to print on interior plies of a sealed insert. Patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,789,149 and 4,768,766 and 4,121,818 and 3,917,252 and 3,899,165 disclose selective binding systems that include ink jet personalization. Pre-personalization (i.e., off-line personalization) on the other hand allows for personalized information on both sides of a sheet covering the entire sheet. It also provides the possibility to personalize interior plies of sealed mailer type constructions, and very high print quality.
Previous attempts at including pre-personalized signatures in books, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,362 and 5,114,128 were limited in that these methods did not allow for the selective binding of the pre-personalized signature itself. In these patents all recipients would receive a pre-personalized signature. According to the present method, pre-personalized signatures would be able to be selectively bound in a book. Based on pre-selected demographics, only selected recipients would receive a pre-personalized insert. This enables advertisers to direct these special inserts at a specific group of individuals.
In the '362 and '128 patents the pre-personalized signature controls the bindery line. Each signature's indicia is read, and based on what was read, the bindery line reacts. In the present method the standard selective binding control computer and database control the bindery line. The bindery control computer requests a specific insert, and it is up to the feeder to ensure that the requested insert is placed on the bindery chain. The above mentioned patents are limited to inserting pre-personalized "signatures" only. They define a "signature" as having its normal meaning in the book publishing field which is a large page of paper folded to form 2, 4, 8, . . . pages of a book or magazine. The current method applies to all forms of inserts such as signatures, blown in cards, sealed multi-ply constructs, bound in cards, or other wraps.
More particularly, the invention includes a method for providing the selective insertion of pre-personalized inserts and signatures into magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and like "book" publications. A book is made up of a number of signatures bound either by perfect binding or saddle stitching. The book is then wrapped in a cover and addressed using labels or printed on the cover, utilizing some type of electronic printing device. The address information is delivered from a bindery line control computer's database to the addressing station on the bindery line. The selective insertion of pre-personalized inserts or signatures to match the address information on the cover of the book is accomplished by detecting an indicia on the pre-personalized insert and comparing it to the address information sent by the bindery line control computer. An insert feeder is provided that enables the rejection of selective inserts before they are able to reach the book gathering point. This way when the insert and data from the control computer do not match, the mismatching insert can be diverted away from the bindery line. The feeder operates asynchronously to the bindery line to enable the feeder to self synchronize with the bindery line even if the bindery line is stopped. The asynchronous nature of the feeder also provides a means for the feeder to "catch up" with the bindery line in the case of diverted inserts. The speedup of the feeder allows the feeder to fill the void from a diverted insert.
Other objects and advantages of the invention can be seen in the ensuing specification.